BIG FAT CAKE » BLOG » Archive for the ‘Cake’ Category

Give Your Cake Some Bling

August 22nd, 2010

Photo Source: thevegasweddingplanner.com

If you want to add something to the cake, but don’t want to add to the cake, try using a decorative cake stand. The cake stand above will definitely give you some bling but there are many choices to choose from. Work with your cake vendor to thing of something suitable for your ceremony. The easiest thing is to place the cake on a table and add flowers or flower petals around the cake.

Did you add decor around your cake? What did you do?

Redneck Wedding Cakes

July 28th, 2010

Everyone’s got their own tastes and sometimes it’s funny to share them. :O)

I peruse CakeWrecks once in awhile and love what comes up for wedding cakes.

Photo Source: cakewreks.blogspot.com

Notice the accompanying hoof:

Photo Source: cakewrecks.blogpost.com

Have you seen any other fun wedding cake themes?

Cake vs. Cupcake

May 5th, 2010

My venue is going to charge me cake cutting fees :( This would include the cost of us cutting the cake and then the wait staff serving it to all of our guests.

My solution? CUPCAKES.

I love baking and more importantly, I love baking cupcakes! My dearest friend was a pastry chef in L.A. and has graciously offered to help me sort out my cake vs. cupcake competition and fulfill my wedding sweet tooth desires! 250 cupcakes decorated like the pictures below and we were considering having the cupcakes on a cupcake tier.

found this a long time ago... but don't know from where. It was DIY cake stand image

found this a long time ago as well... but don't know from where

But then I came up with an awesome plan:  place into cardboard bakery boxes (picture below). The boxes would then have our monogram label and another label which has the person’s name and table number! In other words, the cupcakes would serve as a) the cake b) the escort/ name cards and c) the favors!!! Come on, that’s brilliant!!!!

From brpboxshop.com!

As for the cake that we as the bride and groom will cut, that will be *drumroll* A GIANT CUPCAKE!! Wilton sells a 7 inch x 9 inch giant cupcake pan that I bought from Target for about $30… it’s the size of a 6 inch cake! We’re still looking at how it will be decorated but here are some of our ideas:

Total cost? $90 for the cupcake boxes ($30 for 100) + raw materials ($40?) + baking cups ($7)= $137!!! My parents have a cake stand and a cake cutting set so that’s what we’ll use.

What do you all think? Cake or Cupcake??

Macaroons: the new cupcake?

February 15th, 2010

I got married in 2008 and arranged for a friend of mine to make a tower of cupcakes for our wedding rather than a traditional wedding cake.  I’ve just started seeing a new trend emerging – the Macaroon.  While I haven’t personally seen these at weddings yet, I have seen them at a couple of baby and bridal showers.

Macaroon Tower

For those who are wondering what the heck a Macaroon is, it’s a French specialty, typically made with almond flour, sugar, and eggs.  The outside is crunchy and the inside is meringue like, and usually two macaroons are joined together with a ganache filling.  Intimate Weddings shares more about this emerging Macaroon trend!

For those thinking about making macaroons, it is possible, though I’m told they’re pretty tricky! My friend Talida shares about her macaroon making experiences on her blog and even had to take a class to learn to make them! So, if you are planning on DIYing most of your wedding, you might need to find a professional to do your Macaroons!

Will you be doing a non-traditional cake for your wedding?

We are pleased to announce our first charity raffle: Enter to win up to 100 artisan cupcakes (retail value of over $250) for your wedding or shower! Izacupcake has agreed to donate up to 100  artisan cupcakes to a bride who contributes to Big Fat Cake’s fundraising goal to raise funds for the Haiti Crisis. Each contribution of $25 or more gives you an entry into the drawing. Enter as often as you like.  The more often you enter, the better your chances.  Enter for yourself or for a friend. What a great wedding gift! (see below for terms & conditions). Support our efforts with your tax-deductible donation towards the Haiti Crisis survivors on our support page. Just click on the “Sponsor Me Now!” button. Donations will go to World Vision and can count towards your 2009 taxes.

World Vision works to tackle the root causes of poverty by working with children, families, and their communities to provide things like clean water, health care, nutritious food, education, and economic opportunities. Read the online World Vision Magazine to follow what’s going on or Join the Conversation.

Terms & Conditions

  1. Cupcakes are only available in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
  2. Entries will be collected until February 28, 2010 at 11:59pm.
  3. Cupcakes and frostings are limited to those available at the time.
  4. Cupcakes may not be sold to another party.  Offer is void if transferred to another party for compensation.
  5. Delivery will be arranged and accommodated at a mutually convenient time and location possible.
  6. Prize must be redeemed by December 31, 2010.
  7. Cupcakes only available in a single delivery for one event.
  8. Customized cupcake display structure can be rented at an additional cost.
  9. Must be 18 years old or older to enter.
  10. Winner will be announced via blog post on March 2, 2010, so stay tuned!

Milk and Cookies

January 6th, 2010

The bride and groom sharing a cookie

The groom pouring glasses of milk for the guests

To follow up on my recent wedding cookies post, this bride and groom had milk and cookies at their wedding instead of cake. I thought this was an adorable idea.  I love the simplicity of the clear milk glasses and the stacks of chocolate chip cookies on various cake stands. (My apologies  for the blurry pics, as my cousin took them from his cell phone)   YUM!  :)

Too bad this baker is in the UK because I would send friends to them. This cake topper is a cute thing to do if your wedding is during the Christmas season. haha. Merry Christmas!

Source: Sarah Jane's Cakes

Source: Sarah Jane's Cakes

A Pittsburgh Tradition….

December 23rd, 2009

Last week one of my Pittsburgh-native friends sent me an article from the New York Times titled, The Wedding? I’m Here for the Cookies, about the legendary cookie tables at Pittsburgh weddings. My friend didn’t even realize it was a Pittsburgh thing, she just thought it was the norm to have cookie tables at wedding receptions. However, reading further into the article, it’s actually a tradition unique to the area!

Source: New York Times

Source: New York Times

According to the New York Times article and confirmed by my Pittsburgh friends, moms, grandmas, and aunts all begin baking cookies weeks and weeks in advance.  They make a crazy amount of cookies from peanut butter blossoms to Italian wedding cookies to Pizzelles (I personally love these) all for the guests to enjoy. Usually, the cookies are placed on one big table which allows everyone to help themselves during the reception.   The trend lately is to have small containers, like Chinese take-out boxes, available for the guests to bring additional cookies home in, and can be used as favors.

Source: New York Times

Source: New York Times

Even though this is mainly a Pittsburgh tradition and would require a lot of preparation and work (or a great bakery contact), I think it’s a great idea for any wedding. Who wouldn’t want to bring home a few extra sweets?!

Source: New York Times

Source: New York Times

Are you having a cookie table at your wedding?

Ordering Our Big Fat Cake

December 13th, 2009

A lot was accomplished yesterday! We met with the bakery that’s going to make our cake, and we also met with a videographer that we think we’ll hire.

First, we had our cake tasting and ordered our wedding cake. If you’re a fan of food shows on TV, you may have heard about “Cake Boss” on TLC. And if you have, you’d appreciate this even more because, guess what – Buddy’s making our cake! Well, maybe not Buddy specifically, but his bakery is.

with buddy and mario

Buddy’s the one in the middle (man, it feels good to be taller than a TV celebrity, even if it’s just a tad), and the guy on the right is Mario, his right hand man. These guys are pretty loud on their show, but during the meeting when we discussed our cake, they were so professional and low-key. Definitely gives credence to the thinking that reality TV isn’t reality at all.

Anyway, the process went like this. We went to the bakery at 11:30 for our appointment. When we got there, we saw a huge line outside. Ever since the launch of “Cake Boss,” celebrity gawkers flock to the Hoboken shop on weekends (it’s much emptier on the weekdays I’ve been there), and it was no different on the day we went.

line outside

After we got past the bouncer (no joke), we had to fight our way through a mass of people to get to the “waiting area” for people who had consultation appointments. Turns out there was a group ahead of us, so we had to wait.

inside

While we were waiting, a bunch of kids tried getting autographs from some of the chefs and staff there. Here’s a pic of Joe and Grace, taken poorly with an iPhone.

grace and joe

We flipped through a couple of binders with wedding cakes, and after a bit longer, we finally got called to go up. So we went, up the “famous” stairwell where they dropped some big (fat?) cake, and through a hallway into an office where Buddy was waiting for us.

He was really gracious, and was pretty sincere in apologizing for making us wait. We shook hands, and he gave us another binder with cake options that were included in our hotel package. As we started looking through the binder, he walked up to the window of his office, which looked down to the people lined up outside. When the crowd saw him, they screamed. He thanked them for coming out, and then, because someone in the crowd asked him to, he said, “Fondant.” That was pretty cute.

He then stepped out, and his assistant came in with some cake samples. There were maybe 8 or 9 different slices of cake for us to taste. Surprisingly, given that the missus and her sister were there, we didn’t finish everything (because, you know, they enjoy eating ;) ). While there were quite a few really good tasting options, it wasn’t too difficult for us to choose what we wanted for our cake.

As for the design of the cake, Mario helped walk us through that. We found a design in the binder that fit the “feel” we were going for, and then made some customizations. Changing things up cost us a few more dollars, but in the end, it’s going to be fine since the cake design is exactly what we want, and shoot, it’s pretty cool that a bakery that’s on TV is making the cake.

Oh, one other thing — we got to go into the kitchen as well. Mario wanted to show us an example of the design/style we were discussing. It was pretty cool to go in, since it looked exactly as it does on the show. Plus, we also saw this HUGE cake that was going to a wedding that day. It was pretty elaborate, and sized to feed 300 people.

So, we’re pretty excited about our cake. We hope our guests enjoy it too. :)

(Notes about the videographer to come separately.)

cupcake anyone?

November 22nd, 2009

Cupcakes have become more and more popular as a wedding cake option. I really love beautiful and innovative designs of cupcake stands I’ve seen lately.  One of my absolute favorites from the New York Metropolitan area is Pink Cake Box. Here are some of my favorite ones:

made by Pink Cake Box

made by Pink Cake Box

The beautiful top tier cake allows for the newly weds to observe the tradition of saving the top tier, freezing it, and then eating it at their one year anniversary.

made by pink cake box

made by pink cake box

This one is a bit more simple, but oh so elegant. Also the great thing is that the bride won’t have to choose one or two flavors, she can have it all with a cupcake cake!

made by pink cake box

With a cupcake cake, it is usually a more affordable option than a whole multi-tiered wedding cake.  As a budget saving alternative, ask a friend or relative to make and decorate the cupcakes as a wedding gift.  With these little delights so popular lately, you’ll be surprised how many people you know are pros at it.  There are endless color schemes possibilities and floral decorations. I love the  florals and butterfly on the top tier of this cake.

big-cake1037

Isn’t this just the sweetest cake? He he. The topper is just adorable and I love the sprinkle of roses amongst the tiers.

Did you have or are you thinking about a cupcake cake for your wedding? Tell me about your ideas!